Phoenixville school board, teachers should reach agreement

The good news in the Phoenixville Area School District negotiations with the Phoenixville Area Education Association is that they’re still talking.

The bad news is that after three years of negotiations, they’re still talking.

The teachers union has not threatened to strike nor made steps for a work stoppage, and the school board as well has kept to the process of negotiating despite the failure to reach an agreement.

But as the two sides close in on the third anniversary of working under the old contract, the inability to reach consensus is troubling.

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The school board this week released details that show the two sides remain far apart on key issues.

The negotiations have involved a fact finder from the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, but both sides rejected the recommendations in a first vote. The school board voted to accept the recommendations in a required second vote Nov. 12, but the education association rejected the second time.

At Monday night’s school board meeting, board member Paul Slaninka reported that in meetings since the fact-finding process, the teachers have presented proposals less favorable than the ffact finder recommendations.

Slaninka said both parties met Nov. 28 for two and a half hours and were also joined by William Gross, the director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Mediation, and William Cramer, the state mediator working through the “collective bargaining process.”

“At Wednesday evening’s session, the district presented a counter proposal to the (Phoenixville Area Education Association’s) Nov. 14 proposal,” Slaninka said. “In the district’s opinion, this counter proposal represented significant movement on the part of the district, further reinforcing the board’s desire to reach a settlement with Phoenixville Area Education Association.”

Slaninka said a response was not yet received from the education association regarding the latest district proposal.

According to information from the district, the two sides remain at odds over salary increases and health care.

The status of talks has apparently not affected education at Phoenixville.

The school district has received a number of accolades recently, including a report that showed high school students are scoring in the top rankings nationally on Advanced Placement tests.

The district also recently adopted a set of goals focused on being the best.

Both the district and the teachers union have done a good job of keeping their negotiations steady. But three years is a long time to have an open contract hanging over taxpayers and parents.

We urge both sides to reach a consensus and agree on a contract that takes into account the economic realities of health-care costs and the property tax burden on homeowners.

Neither side may get everything it wants, but after three years, it’s time to settle.